--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Deborah Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > One of the ideas that came from the Enlightenment is > > that "all men are > > created equal." That concept means that the > > differences in intelligence, > > race, religion, age, are superficial differences > > when discussing human > > rights. We are all endowed with equal rights (most > > think that the use of > > the word "men" was not intended to exclude women as > > having no rights)..no > > matter how different we are. > > Just going to point out that Africans *didn't* count > as full human (3/5s of a person, I believe was > specified, in the matter of population, although of > course they did not get 3/5s of a vote in elections) > to certain framers of the Constitution [#]
In fairness, my recollection is that it was the people who believed that Africans *were* fully human, and who thus were anti-slavery, who argued for the 3/5ths clause. I believe it was the people who were pro-slavery that opposed the 3/5ths clause. Otherwise, white slave-holders would have had their voting weight in Congress fully accounting for their non-voting slaves. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
